Love Ever After: Eleven All-New Romances!

by Nina Lane

  “Whatever,” he grumbled and walked back into the shadows between the buildings.

  She followed him into the dark, tripping on high grass and anything else she couldn’t see. The strong scent of dung smacked her in the face as she passed the manure pit and turned the corner. His truck came into view first, parked perpendicular to the woodshed with the tailgate down. On it sat a cooler and two empty bottles of beer.

  The shed was a three-sided building with an open front and a lean-to porch extending from the roof. In this way, wood could be split, loaded up, hauled out, or stacked inside while out of the elements.

  With plenty of room to move, Brody stepped over a haphazard heap of split wood on the ground and reached inside the cooler on his tailgate. “You want one?”

  Olivia joined him and leaned against his truck. She glanced at the ax he placed on the bed and frowned inwardly. “Sure.”

  He twisted off the top and handed it to her before resuming his work. She took a sip, observing him as he grabbed armfuls of wood and added them to a large stack against the back wall. It worried her that he’d wielded a sharp blade under the influence of alcohol. Stupid, really. Given Brody’s current state of mind, she figured she’d approach this train from a different station. “So, Jonas is okay with you coming to his ranch and hanging out?”

  “Why would he care?”

  “I don’t know.” Olivia shrugged. “Because it’s late. And you’re on his property. Isn’t that a legal risk for him if something happened?”

  Brody gauged her question as he lugged another armload. “I’d never sue Jonas. He’s the only one in this town who doesn’t look at me like I’m some worthless convict.”

  She felt the tender eggshells cracking beneath her feet. “Sure, but Jonas doesn’t know if you’re a sue-happy kinda guy. Nor could he guarantee—”

  “Liv,” Brody cut her off, his hands on his hips now. “I know what you’re thinking, but for your information, I didn’t drink a single beer while I split wood. And the two you see empty are from when I saw Rod pull up. I tossed them back thinking I was about to get another ass chewing. So there. Happy now?”

  “Not really.”

  “Well, sorry. I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t fix everything for you, Liv.”

  Chapter Five

  Brody didn’t mean to lash out. When it came to Liv, he normally watched his mouth and minded his manners. Tonight, he didn’t have much control over his behavior. He sighed and hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

  He blamed it on his brother. Rod had stuck his nose in where it didn’t belong, and Rod sure as hell hadn’t done him any favors by breaking up the fight. It would’ve been different if Rod had kicked the guys out right after he and Carlton were separated. At least it would’ve conveyed the notion that Rod had his back. Instead, Rod made him look like a damn fool.

  Brody closed his eyes, feeling his blood begin to boil again. Splitting wood had always helped him take the edge off, but what he wouldn’t give for a good old-fashioned punching bag right now.

  Liv put down her beer and came to him. She stroked his forearm, trying to ease his tension. She knew him well. So much so that she monitored his clenched fists—fists he hadn’t even realized he’d made until now.

  He felt her fingers stroke the inside of his wrist before she clasped her hand around his. She lifted his right one and inspected the cut on his knuckle. “You don’t have to apologize, Galven. I know exactly why you’re mad. I’d be mad too.” She ran her finger along the swelling of the laceration. “Is this from the fight?”

  He loved her touch. The cool sensation of her fingertips on his hot skin whittled away his resolve. “Mm-hmm.”

  “I never thanked you for coming to my rescue.”

  He’d do it again if he had to. “You don’t have to thank me.” His voice came out strained and hoarse.

  “I know you don’t need my gratitude, but you deserve it.”

  She bent and placed a kiss upon his knuckle. He clenched his jaw to trap a groan. The feel of her lips brushing his skin damn near socked him in the gut. He’d taken hard blows in the stomach many times before, but nothing compared to this.

  His brain automatically painted a picture of Liv’s soft lips puckering at the head of his dick, her tongue darting out to taste him. As he envisioned her mouth parting and his cock sliding in, he pulled away. On weak legs, he stepped back and slammed into the wall behind him.

  Liv gawked at him, confused by his sudden need to flee. Her perplexity then turned to despair. “Does the thought of me gross you out that much, Galven?”

  She waited for an answer, but he couldn’t provide one. Nothing could’ve been further from the truth. When he didn’t reply, frustration scrunched her face and she heaved a sigh. “I’ll just call Rod.”

  She turned and headed out of the woodshed. Brody leapt forward and caught her wrist. “Liv, wait.” He spun her around and studied the hurt in her eyes. To the average Joe, there was no evidence of pain, not even a single tear. But he knew better. The sting of rejection was there. “It’s not that you gross me out.”

  Her brow cocked upward. He sensed her doubt.

  “I was surprised, is all. You kind of caught me off guard.” She couldn’t seem to look him in the eye. Why did he have to hurt her? “Liv, please.”

  Her gaze slowly found his. He couldn’t read her. Maybe she did want him the way he wanted her. Perhaps she’d found the courage to let him know how she felt by initiating a heartfelt, uncomplicated kiss and he had to go and shoot her down. Or maybe he was hooked so deep on a wish that he blew every little thing she did out of proportion.

  “Galven?”

  Oh shit. He swallowed hard, trying to stay strong. He had to. For her sake. He couldn’t give her a reason to hang back in Meeteetse if the call from Nashville came. Regardless of how bad she wanted it, Liv would put her dreams on hold for those she cared about, and he’d never forgive himself if he became that person.

  As hard as he tried, the idea of coming clean tempted him. He could think of nothing else but blurting it out and letting the chips fall where they may. He wanted her to know exactly how he felt, to prove it with a hot, passionate kiss. He could see himself picking her up in his arms and making wild love to her in the front seat of his truck. The sound of her cries as he brought her to an explosive orgasm would quake the ground on which he stood. He grew rock hard with it.

  Fuck.

  Only she could truly relieve this awful pain in his heart. This unbearable ache between his legs.

  “Liv, I…want…”

  “Yes?” she encouraged.

  Her tantalizing bottom lip distracted him. He tried again. “I want you.” Shit. As soon as it rolled off his tongue, he regretted it. He sounded selfish and stupid. He couldn’t do this to her. “I want you…to go for a drive with me.”

  She blinked repeatedly. “A drive?”

  He exhaled in relief. “Yeah. A drive. Over the ridge. There’s this place on Jonas’s farm where you can look out over the valley. And sometimes, if the moon hangs right, you can see its reflection in the Upper Sunshine Reservoir. Wanna go?”

  “Right now?”

  “Why not? It’s a gorgeous night.”

  Another bout of confusion manifested on Liv’s face. “What about the rest of this wood?”

  His mind wallered in the gutter. A slew of erection jokes he’d never be able to share bounced around in his head. “I’ll finish tomorrow morning. Come on.”

  He grabbed the ax with one hand and swung it, burying its blade in the broad side of one of the logs. He then made quick work of his tailgate, cleaning it off and pushing back the cooler so he could close it. Together, they climbed in the truck and drove across the field to the east gate.

  Brody opened and closed several gates before they reached their destination, all the while feeling Liv’s thigh brushing against his as they bounced in the seat. The drive there was not a quick one, but it sure made for an adventure. Many times, Liv squea
led in excitement and steadied her beer so it wouldn’t spill when they bounded across ruts and bumps in the fields. He could admit to sometimes hitting them on purpose in order to throw her against him and hear her laughter. Her hand, braced on his thigh, wasn’t bad either.

  After pulling through and closing the last gate, he eased his truck along the pasture grass so as not to damage it. Sleepy steers, huddled in groups, stared at them as they passed by.

  Liv sat up straighter and gazed out the rear window. “Oh my gosh, they’re following us.”

  “That’s because they think they’re getting fed. They associate a pickup truck with buckets of grain.”

  Brody steered his Chevy along the fence and crested the hill. He threw it in park beneath a large oak and killed the engine. Liv swiveled in her seat, and her mouth gaped in awe at the view before her.

  Like a page out of a vacation destination magazine, a breathtaking display of peaks and meadows, veiled with pines and firs, stretched for miles. A shimmering mirror of moonlit water lay tucked in a valley of hills. Beyond that rose the majestic Absaroka mountain range beneath a sea of twinkling stars in a midnight sky.

  “Oh my gosh, Galven! This is amazing!”

  She handed him her beer and inched to the edge of the seat. Her palm came down on his leg again as she pushed herself closer to the windshield. Brody tried not to dwell on how close her hand rested to his groin. Any man with a working nervous system would stir at the feel of a woman’s hand on his thigh. He was no different.

  He doused the fire in his soul with a swig of her beer. God, help me.

  “Brody, I can’t believe how gorgeous this is!”

  “I know,” he concurred, though his eyes weren’t fixed on the scenery outside his truck. The view from the inside was a thousand times better.

  Without tearing away her gaze, Liv leaned back and nestled herself against his chest. Brody hesitated but eventually threw an arm over her and pulled her close. The feel of her body pressed against his did little to ease the turbulence of his thoughts. From wondering if he reeked of perspiration to praying she’d not notice the hard-on he sported, he couldn’t relax.

  “Brody?” she commenced.

  He swallowed. “Yeah?”

  “Do you ever stop and think where we’ll be five years from now? Like if we’ll still be doing the same old things we do now?”

  He wasn’t sure where she was going with this. “Meaning…”

  “Meaning, if you’ll still be working here and me at the Wagon Wheel.” She reached up and took the beer from his hand, tipping it to her lips. “I don’t want to be a waitress for the rest of my life.”

  Brody heard the despondence in her voice and manned up. “You know what I think?”

  She rotated her head to meet his gaze. “What?”

  He smoothed her hair away from her forehead and admired her rare beauty. He dared himself to stroke the flawless skin on her face and capture her sweet, supple lips in a kiss. It occurred to him that he might never get this opportunity again.

  Ignoring every compulsion he had to take her, he simply offered a smile. “I think that call you’ve been waiting for is gonna come in sooner than you think.”

  Liv sighed and sank back into his torso, her hand resting on his chest. “I don’t know about that. I mean, I’ve been working hard to get a website up and running. And I have a Facebook page like my agent insisted. I’ve even recorded a few songs on YouTube to get some exposure while she supposedly works her magic with the record-label bigwigs. I just want this so bad, Galven, I can taste it.”

  Brody considered her words and the earnest desire she had to see her dream come true. He respected how hard she worked to get her foot in the door and that she wasn’t content to sit by and wait for something to happen. Whether it be by accident or by the connections of her agent, Olivia Langston was going to be a country music superstar. He knew it. As sure as eggs, he knew it.

  Brody let his head fall back against the rear window and cast a glance outside his truck, staring at nothing in particular. The things she worried about were a far cry from what troubled him. She thought of what she’d do if that call never came. He worried about what he’d do when it did. Just the thought of letting her go pierced his heart like a hard-driven horseshoe nail.

  He closed his eyes and propelled those gloomy thoughts from his mind. Until the day when he’d have to say good-bye, he’d treasure every moment with her and be the man she needed him to be. He glanced at Liv, all snuggled against his chest, and smiled. For now, that seemed to be her pillow.

  Chapter Six

  “So, tell me what happened last week at the Wagon Wheel. I’m dying to hear it from the horse’s mouth.”

  Olivia stopped strumming and splayed her fingers across the strings of her guitar, throwing her friend Regina a look from across the room. “What are you talking about?”

  Regina plopped down beside her and reclined against the arm of the sofa. Her smile beamed as she crossed her arms. Her lips were perfectly lined in a shade of deep red, which, along with her soft brown hair and warm hazel eyes, accentuated her natural classic beauty. While Regina often remarked about needing to lose a few pounds, Olivia thought she was model perfect. “You know darn well what I’m talking about. The whole town’s fussing about it.”

  “What, with Brody?”

  “Yes, with Brody!” Regina cried. “That whole thing about how he stuck up for you and tossed some wannabe cowboy around like a toy.”

  “Oh yeah. That.” How could she forget? That was also the night she thought Brody confessed to wanting her, only to modify his words into something else. “What’s there to tell? Some douchebag groped me, Brody got upset, and he bloodied the guy’s nose.”

  Regina crossed her arms and smirked. “Aren’t you forgetting the part where you told Jethro to take a hike?”

  “I didn’t tell Jethro to take a hike. I told him I was clocking out so I could make sure Brody was okay. He was pretty upset when he left.”

  “What else is new,” Regina sneered.

  “Don’t do that,” Olivia scolded.

  “What?”

  “Do what everybody else in this town does when it comes to Brody. He’s not the screwup everyone makes him out to be.”

  “I know that. But, he has been in jail.”

  “Like, seven years ago, when he was a minor,” Olivia defended. “How long is this town going to hold that against him?”

  “If it’s any consolation, I hold nothing against a man who comes to the aid of a woman,” Regina said, suddenly endorsing him. “Especially a man who looks like Brody Galven.” She fanned her face. “All those muscles and that teeny-weeny butt… I’d love to sink my teeth into it.”

  Olivia wanted to laugh when her friend growled and bit the air, but she wasn’t in the mood to joke around about a guy who’d never be interested in her the way she was in him. It hurt too much.

  “And don’t get me started on his tatts,” Regina ranted. “He looks like that lead singer from Maroon 5, except with lighter hair. And broader shoulders. Oh, I’m such a sucker for a bad boy.”

  While Regina raved on and on about Brody, Olivia spaced out on his long, muscular arms and the flamboyant sleeves that colored them. Inked with blue flames, pinup girls, and biomechanical paraphernalia, he resembled someone more from Orange County Choppers than Park County, Wyoming.

  While his tatts lent him an air of distinction among the average residents of Meeteetse, it was the sleek muscle definition of his upper body she loved most. Having a job that revolved around tossing hay bales, roping steers, and splitting wood, it was no wonder the man had arms like a roughneck on an oil-drilling rig.

  Thinking back to last week on the McKinley ranch, she could curl up in those arms every day of her life if Brody’d let her. Therein lay her problem. He might have been her best friend, but that was all she’d ever be to him.

  “How do you do it, Olivia?”

  Upon hearing her name, Olivia snapped out of
her trance. “What?”

  “I said, how do you keep your hands off him? I mean, best friends or not, I wouldn’t be able to.”

  Olivia feigned a smile. “It’s not because I haven’t tried.”

  “Well, try a little harder, will ya? I know I’ll never have a chance with the guy, so my best hope is through you.”

  Olivia pursed her lips and strummed a G chord. “Don’t hold your breath.”

  Regina’s exuberance faded as she regarded the bleakness on Olivia’s face. Her hands came up to hide her openmouthed stare. “Oh, honey. Are you…”

  “Am I what?”

  “In love with him?”

  Olivia tried to play it off as hogwash, but she’d never been a good liar. Regina reached for her hand and clasped it in hers. “And here I was going on and on about him like that. I had no idea.”

  “It’s okay. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Yes, it is,” Regina contended. “Why didn’t you tell me? Better yet, why haven’t you told him? Don’t you think he’d want to know?”

  Now Olivia felt like laughing. “Yeah, right. So he can rip my heart out one more time? I don’t think so.”

  “Are we talking about the same Brody Galven here? ’Cause if I recall, he can’t seem to get enough of you. He’s always protecting you, shoving his weight around at any other dude who tries to steal your affections. Hell, the man gets in a fight over you more often than bronc riders get bucked.”

  Olivia shook her head repeatedly. “Trust me, he may be a little overprotective, but it’s not because he has feelings for me. I’m more like a sister to him.”

  Just as Olivia resumed plucking a tune, Regina clutched the neck of her guitar and arched a disbelieving brow. “Come again? A sister?” She narrowed her gaze. “Livie, I know you’re an only child and you have no idea how siblings treat each other, but let me tell you this right now. Brody does not look at you like a sister.”

  “Then why did he backpedal out of a kiss so fast never to speak of it again? Or, better yet, why did he recant on a confession he made last week?”

  “Wait, Brody kissed you? What else haven’t you told me?”